Ooooooo



- UNITED STATES PATENT OFF CE.

JAMES MORTON, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

GOLD-PEN TRAY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 242,217, dated May 31,1881.

Application filed September 15, 1880. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES MORTON, or" the city and State of New 'York,have invented a new and useful Improvement in Gold Pen Trays; and Ihereby declare that the following is a description of my invention,reference being had to the annexed drawings, forming a part 'of thisspecification, in which Figure 1 is a top View of the loop and cardFig.2, a plan view of the metal spring and under side of the card.

Similar letters refer to like parts.

The invention is intended to provide a more durable and superior loopfor holding a gold pen in the card of a tray used for such articles.

In the common trays used for holding gold pens a band of elasticvulcanized india-rubber is secured in a series ofloops in the card, eachloop holding a pen, and permitting its removal and insertion by simplyextending the elastic loop. Although simple, this kind of loop is verydefective, for the india-rubber band soon loses its elastic power andtlieloop becomes loose and useless, especially when exposed to sunlight.Another defect of a serious nature belongs to the character of thematerial itself, as sulphur forms part of the rubber composition. Thissubstance in this combination is volatile at common temperatures, and itacts upon gold pens and other alloys of gold and silver and opper; hencethe surface of gold pens confined in such loops for sometime becomesblack by the formation of sulphide thereon. Thisis very injurious tosuch articles.

M 'nvcn tion obviates such evils and defects.

It consistsin providing a finemetallic spring on the under side of thecard of the tray and uniting it with a cord of silk or other suitablematerial which forms the pen-loop on the surface of the card. I thussecure a permanent elastic or spring loop for holding the pen anddispense entirely with the india-rubber band.

My gold-pen tray consists of a neatly-made shallow box of suitable size,and containing, besides the bottom proper, an auxiliary bottom, which Icall a card. The tray is usuallylined and covered with colored velvet,and

,the loops in the card for holding the pens are arranged in a row orrows upon the upper surface of the card A, as shown in Fig. 1. To formthis series of loops in a card I arrange a fi'ne' steel wire, W, inzigzag form, as shown in Fig. 2, and fasten it on the under side of cardA. This wire thus forms a spring, to

which I fasten silk or other suitable cord, (3,

at suitable intervals, and by passin git through perforations in thecard I form distinct loops on the upper surface, each loop capable ofholding a pen, as represented by G in Fig. 1.

The wire W, arranged as shown, forms a dis 6o tinct spring for eachloop. A series of such loops on a card is shown in Fig. 1, and a card somade and properly secured in a suitable box forms,with the box, thegold-pen tray. The

loops, made as described, possess the quality of permanent elasticitysecured by the use of the metallic spring.

The material employed for the loop to hold the pen may be of soft silkor anyother suitable card that will not affect the surface of the pen. Iprefer steel for the spring but other metal may be used, anditmaybe flator round. One or mpre series of loops may be arranged in different rowsupon a card. Each loop has a separate spring, and holds its pensecurely,

while still permitting it to be inserted and removed with facility. Forgold-pen trays this improvement is very useful, and may be extended toother similar uses. Such loops rctain their elastic character, and donot become Q0 loose and useless, as do the loops of ordinary gold-pentrays. Moreover, I'desire it to be understood that I do not limit myinvention to the use. of a zigzag form of spring,nor to a set of springsmade of a connected piece of wire, 8

for the spring-wire may plainly assume a variety of forms, and eachspring may be independent of others.

I claim- The card of a gold-pen tray, having a spring 0 formed of asingle wire, flat or round, made zigzag or in the form shown, at theback of the card, and with loops of a soft ribbon or cord passingthrough perforations in the card, as

described, the single wireformingacontinuous 5 spring for all the loopsand the single cord a string of loops for all the pens on the card, as

set forth.

JAMES MORTON.

Witnesses:

ALFRED G. HOLGOMB'E, JAMES H. HUNTER.

